Aardman hops on the Brave Bunnies bus

With a unique hand-drawn style and a younger preschool demo, the distributor's Alison Taylor sees global potential in the series from Glowberry and Anima.

Bristol studio Aardman has picked up the distribution rights for 2D-animated series Brave Bunnies, produced by Ukraine-based Glowberry and Spanish studio Anima. Created by Olga Cherepanova, production on the 52 x seven-minute preschool series is well underway.

Glowberry previously signed a deal with Big Picture Licensing to handle the L&M for the series, and DeAgostini has jumped on board to be the agent in LatAm and Italy. BPL has since locked in a deal with Spin Master.

The show appealed to Aardman, in part, because all of these partners had already signed on which spoke to its value, says Aardman’s head of sales and acquisitions Alison Taylor. And it meant that a global brand could be built around the series, which is something the distributor is always looking for.

Directed by Tim Fehrenbach, the series follows a group of bus-riding bunnies who meet and greet new animal friends along their journey. The values that it instills throughout the episodes are part of what drew Aardman to the show, says Taylor. “The themes that the series represents: bravery, curiosity and kindness—if you can do that through storytelling for a young audience, that’s what we want to achieve ultimately, there needs to be more of that.”

Brave Bunnies also targets a younger audience than is typical for preschool shows, speaking to two-year-olds with an “inspirational” hand-drawn style, which looks like something a preschooler could aspire to draw, Taylor adds.

“We think that’s part of the relatability for the audience, it’s almost like they could do it, it’s very inspirational for children because of the look of the design and the use of children’s voice,” she says.

That target is also something broadcasters and streamers are after right now, according to Taylor, which works out nicely since she’s looking to sign new deals with them at Kidscreen Summit in Miami next week when the companies debut the first episode from Brave Bunnies.